Measuring Spatial Arrangement of Indonesian Colonial Cities using Depth and Connectivity Calculations: Ratio study on master plans using Space Syntax

Abstract

This study proposes an easy method for calculating the spatial arrangement of Indonesian city planning, in line with sustainable urban forms. Several Indonesian cities originated during the Dutch colonial era. Although it is very important to consider the original plans of these cities to maintain their sustainability, generally, the original plans tend to be ignored. The master plans investigated in this work are those of three cities in Indonesia designed by Dutch planners of Semarang, Bandung, and Malang, and which are compared to two cities in the Netherlands (Delft and Amsterdam). The method used was by collecting images of ancient maps of Amsterdam, Delft, Bandung, Semarang, and Malang, then digitising the image from raster to vector so that it can be calculated using DepthMapX. This study utilised maps for computing the Depth of the cities. Then, a space syntax approach using Depth Calculation (DC) techniques is deployed for determining the similarity ratio among the cities. Based on the results of the assessment, it is found that there is similarity in Depth in the cities of Amsterdam and Delft against three Dutch colonial cities in Indonesia. This study supports that the DC in the master plan of cities in Indonesia is similar. The resulting ratio shows the extent of the difference between the pattern of Indonesian colonial cities and the pattern of Dutch cities. It is expected that this study will contribute to urban planners’ and city governments’ determination of the direction of development of a city designed during the Dutch colonial period. Maintaining the sustainability of the old colonial urban form requires harmony between urban planning and the policies made by the city government.